The International Who's Who of Project Finance Lawyers brought together three of the leading practitioners in the world to discuss key issues facing lawyers today.

Much of the current political debate in the United States and other countries is centred around the role of government and the need for stimulating private economies, and this debate is playing out directly in relation to the renewable energy sector. It is still the case that current technology for renewables projects is not competitive with conventional fossil-fuelled generation sources (although the gap is narrowing) and, consequently, renewables projects continue to rely upon governmental subsidies and policies (in the form of renewable portfolio standards, feed-in tariffs or otherwise) to be commercially viable.

Who's Who Legal has brought together five of the leading practitioners in the world to discuss key issues facing project finance lawyers today.

The last 18 months have been troubling for project finance practitioners, yet at the same time heartening: troubling to the extent that the markets were in turmoil and the old ways and rules of doing things no longer applied; but heartening in terms of the resilience of the project finance market and project finance as a structural tool for the financing of infrastructure assets.

Most European governments have set up an export credit agency as a government entity to promote, facilitate and support the exports of goods and services.

With the benefit of over 14 years of research and tens of thousands of votes from clients and private practitioners, Who's Who Legal takes a closer look at developing trends in the project finance legal marketplace worldwide.

In this section we analyse the findings of our research in greater depth to identify the firms and practitioners who stand out worldwide.

Our extensive research uncovers 412 leading project finance practitioners across 67 countries. Several firms demonstrate a depth of international expertise that has been invaluable when competing for work while the investment climate has been poor.

Confronted with widespread economic uncertainty and frozen credit markets, project finance has been resilient, with continued activity and exciting areas of growth for 2010. Here we examine key issues that face the legal community as it evolves to meet the changing demands of the market.

Our research identifies 46 leading project finance lawyers in the region.

The energy sector remains robust, with continued demand for energy driving high levels of investment internationally.

Global reach is the order of the day among all of the best-represented firms on our list. Those with a large network, especially in developing countries, are not only able to meet demand for expertise in many jurisdictions, they are showing greater ability to weather economic pressures.

Ten lawyers from seven firms are listed in this chapter.

A total of ten experts, hailing from seven firms, are listed in this chapter. These lawyers are recommended for their accomplished representation of sponsors and lenders in project financing and refinancing transactions.

Project finance activity in the Middle East is continuing to boom and the UAE remains a hub for big-ticket project financings. This chapter identifies 21 practitioners who are considered by clients and peers to be the leading lawyers in this area. The individuals listed here have experience advising governments, sponsors, banks, ECAs, MLAs, regional funding entities and project companies on financings throughout the region.